Strong second half propels Chula Vista

10/04/2013, 11:30pm PDT

By Alex Riggins, Special to the U-T

Trio of Spartans running backs carry a combined 42 times for 281 yards and three TDs.

CHULA VISTA  Chula Vista and Castle Park hadn’t played the last two seasons, but the schools reignited their rivalry Friday night as Chula Vista jump-started its season with a 35-7 win at Castle Park.

Castle Park’s defense had no answer for Chula Vista’s running back trio of Jaylon Candler, Jayvon Reed and Chris Alonso, who carried a combined 42 times for 281 yards and three TDs.

Chula Vista’s Hunter Gotto completed 8 of 12 passes for 130 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for a score.

“It felt great to put it away like that,” Gotto said. “With our rival Hilltop we didn’t finish, but we finished today and it feels great.”

Chula Vista (2-3) set the tone early with two long touchdown drives. On their first possession, the Spartans drove 78 yards and scored on a 2-yard Candler touchdown run. On their next possession, Reed scored from 2 yards out to finish an 88-yard drive.

Castle Park (2-3) responded with a 60-yard touchdown drive of its own to cut the lead to 14-7 at the half.

Chula Vista put the game away late following a scoreless third quarter. In the fourth quarter, Candler scored his second rushing touchdown. Then Gotto connected with Elias Torres on a 42-yard strike on the first play following an interception by Ivaan Rivera. Gotto added the exclamation mark with his 14-yard scoring run.